Silver (feather silver)

Item Description

This aesthetic and super-rich specimen is from one of Europe's old and classic mining districts. Three sides of the matrix are covered with spongy, jackstraw filagrees of intergrown, classic dendritic/herringbone-patterned, spinel-twinned silver crystals often called "feather silver" in the old books from the 1800s. Today, they are seen in occasionaly spurts as old stashes come to market as was the case here. The longest crystal spear exceeds 1.5 cm and they have a fine patina. They are fragile, almsot soft, crystals (so the piece should be hand-delivered somehow, or else it can be packed in soap powder for shipment with minimal loss of some feathers). Specimens of this superb and rich quality are not that common. A major spiker for this auction. It is unusually large and fine for an example of this classic to go to auction, and should be Valued at $1200-1500